EU warns of visas for US citizens if Washington implements visa waiver reforms

The EU says it may retaliate if the US goes ahead with plans to impose visas for some members of the bloc who are currently part of the Visa Waiver Program. Brussels says it will not increase security and that US nationals may require visas to enter the EU.

A letter signed by 28 European member state ambassadors to the US was published in The Hill after Europe reacted furiously and with disbelief to plans by Washington to tighten-up the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which currently lets millions of citizens from the bloc travel to the US each year without a visa.

Last week, the US House of Representatives adopted a bill to reform the visa program that would ban certain EU nationals from entering the US without a visa if they had visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan after March 2011. Some US politicians want the legislation introduced to tighten security following the November 13 Paris terror attacks.

“A blanket restriction on those who have visited Syria or Iraq, for example, would most likely only affect legitimate travel by businesspeople, journalists, humanitarian or medical workers while doing little to detect those who travel by more clandestine means overland,” the letter signed by the 28 ambassadors stated.

At present, 23 of the EU’s 28 member states enjoy visa-free travel to the US, with the remaining five nations keen to join the VWP. The bloc says it is imperative to keep the visa waiver program intact for business and tourism purposes, while the current system does not mean that it is “a license to enter the US with nothing more than the wave of a passport of an allied country.”

ISIL fueling US psychological warfare: Analyst

US President Barack Obama’s government has no intention of destroying the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group and is using the terror organization as an instrument to push ahead with its agenda through psychological warfare, an American analyst says.

It was announced on Monday that Obama was planning to visit Defense Secretary Ashton Carter later in the day to review the US-led military campaign against Daesh with his national security advisers.

This would be the American leader’s first visit to the Pentagon since the recent terrorist attacks in California and Paris.

The attacks that left scores of people dead are believed to have been carried out by people who share ideologies with the terrorist group.

“Few things in this mess are more clear than the fact that White House policy has been to contain and, many people argue, use ISIS (Daesh) to spread insecurity and perhaps to force regime change, rather than to destroy the phenomena,” Barry Grossman, an international lawyer, told Press TV on Monday.

The US-led anti-terrorist coalition’s airstrikes on the Syrian Army may not have been an accident and could be repeated, Russia’s envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The Syrian Army confirmed earlier in December an airstrike on Syrian Army positions by US-led coalition aircraft in the Deir ez-Zor area that killed three and wounded 13 servicemen.

“Naturally, there is the suspicion that it was not accidental, that despite all assurances given to the Syrian government that these strikes would not target the Syrian government’s forces, the strikes could target government troops from time to time,” Churkin told RIA Novosti.

“This will intensify tensions and only complicate the situation in Syria. But let’s hope it won’t happen,” he added.

Churkin said that Moscow was not currently planning to raise the issue of coalition strikes on the Syrian army at the UN Security Council.

Close your eyes and think about “defenders of human rights”. What image bubbles up from your subconscious? If you answered “Saudi Arabia”, you probably represent one of the 115 countries that just passed a Saudi-proposed UN resolution condemning “Syrian human rights violations.”

Yes, Saudi Arabia —the oasis of human dignity where Harry Potter fans (widely considered the greatest dangers to world peace) are dealt with accordingly — is leading the fight against Syrian violence caused by Saudi-funded terrorists. Here are the terrible details:

A resolution presented by Saudi Arabia was adopted by a vote of 115 to 15, with 51 abstentions.

China, Iran and Russia were among the countries that voted against the measure that now goes to the full General Assembly.

The resolution expresses “outrage” at the worsening violence that has left at least 250,000 dead and displaced more than 12 million people. It stressed the need for accountability and encouraged the UN Security Council to take action, noting that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could play a role. An attempt last year to refer Syria to the ICC for war crimes was blocked by Russia, Syria’s ally, and China at the Security Council.

Leading international cultural figures have joined human rights campaigners in calling for the release of Ashraf Fayadh, the Palestinian poet and artist facing execution in Saudi Arabia.

Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern, British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, historian Simon Schama, playwright David Hare, and Egyptian novelist and commentator Ahdaf Soueif are among the those calling for the death sentence imposed on Fayadh by a Saudi court last week to be overturned.

More than a dozen organisations for artists, writers, musicians and freedom of expression from the UK, North America and Africa – including Index on Censorship, literary association PEN International and the International Association of Art Critics – have also signed a joint statement condemning Fayadh’s conviction for renouncing Islam, a charge which he denies.

The statement, which will be delivered to the Saudi embassy in London on Friday, says: “We believe that all charges against him should have been dropped entirely, and are appalled that Fayadh has instead been sentenced to death for apostasy, simply for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.”

Amnesty International launched an urgent action on Tuesday to lobby for Fayadh’s release, which denounced his lack of legal representation as a violation of international and Saudi law.

Schama said: “Anyone with a conscience should abhor the sentence and shun those responsible as inhuman.”

Saudi Arabia executes 100th prisoner in 6 months

Published time: 15 Jun, 2015 14:25

AFP Photo / STR / AFP

Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker, rocketing the number of this year’s executions in the Kingdom to 100. This figure is already more than the 87 sentenced and put to death in the country during the whole of last year.

The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled “a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom,” the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, as cited by AFP.

The man was sentenced to death according to the nation’s strict version of Sharia law, under which such crimes as murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by death. Public executions are mostly conducted by decapitating the accused with a sword.

The 100th execution has surpassed the 87 recorded by AFP in 2014, but is still some way below the highest figure of 192, recorded by the human rights group Amnesty International in 1995. The watchdog has been scathing of the Kingdom’s human rights record, saying they “fall far short” of global norms.

“Almost half of the executions carried out so far this year have been for drug-related offences, which don’t fall into a recognized international category of ‘most serious crimes,’ and the use of the death penalty for such offences violates international law,” a statement on Amnesty International’s website read.

Monarch Butterfly Populations Are Rising Again After Years In Decline

This year, we have published several stories about the dwindling monarch butterfly populations and some of the efforts that have been made to save the species. New reports last week have indicated that these efforts may actually be paying off, because Monarch populations are actually beginning to grow again. In Mexico, one of the main breeding areas for these butterflies, scientists believe that this year there will be at least three times as many of them this year than there was last year.

During a recent conference at the Piedra Herrada research reserve, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that Mexico and the US will be working together to create pesticide-free zones for the butterflies to flourish.

“Mexico, the U.S., and Canada have many species that don’t know our political borders, that cross the borders freely,” she said during a conference at the Piedra Herrada research reserve, adding that the three countries will be working together to rebuild the populations.

She told the audience that they hope to see “225 million monarch butterflies returning right here to Mexico every year. We believe we can get there by working together and it sounds like we may be on our way, we hope.”

“We are very glad to report that calculations done before the landfall of Hurricane Patricia showed the monarch presence could cover up to four hectares, a clear indication that the efforts mentioned by Secretary Jewell are having a positive effect,” Environment Secretary Rafael Pacchiano said.

“We estimate that the butterfly population that arrives at the reserve is as much as three and could reach four times the surface area it occupied last season,” he added.

For years, environmental experts have been warning about the steady decline of monarch butterfly populations. The causes of this decline have been largely speculation until recently, but a new report suggests that Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup Ready could be responsible.

The report was recently released by US environment watchdog Center for Food Safety and sheds new light on what has been happening with monarch butterfly populations.

According to the report, Monsanto’s herbicide has wiped out 99 percent of milkweed in corn and soybean fields in the US Midwest since 1999.

This has resulted in a decline of nearly 90 percent in monarch butterfly populations in the past 20 years.

Without the milkweed, the butterfly’s food supply is entirely cut out because caterpillars eat only milkweed plants, and then milkweed is needed again when it is time for the butterfly to lay their eggs.

Although this is a very serious problem, it is something that the average person can help to solve. Anyone with some space in their lawn or garden can plant milkweed to help reverse the trend that Monsanto started.

Below are some PDF guides which give you step by step instructions on how to plant milkweed and create habitats for monarch butterflies:

John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com. This article (Monarch Butterfly Populations Are Rising Again After Years In Decline) was made available via

Vladimir Putin’sSyrian soap opera has filled Russian television screens for weeks. The sight of sophisticated missiles smashing into terrorist hide-outs has sent the Russian leader’s popularity soaring to previously unseen heights.

Now, reality is intruding. The crash of Flight 7K9268 — with an onboard bomb planted by supporters of the so-called Islamic State as the most likely cause — highlights the potential cost of Russia’s interference in the Middle Eastern powder-keg.

Until recently, the Kremlin sought not to take sides in the world’s most unstable region. It kept good relations with both Israel and the Palestinians.

Vladimir Putin’s Syrian soap opera has filled Russian television screens for weeks. The sight of sophisticated missiles smashing into terrorist hide-outs has sent the Russian leader’s popularity soaring to previously unseen heights

It was friendly with Sunni Muslim regimes such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq, with secular dictators such as Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, and with the Shia mullahs in Iran.

But by intervening in Syria to support his ally President Assad, Mr Putin has placed his chips firmly on one side of the table. He and the Iranians are propping up the Assad regime, and infuriating most of the Arab world in the process.

In the short term, Mr Putin’s lightning campaign of air strikes on Syrian rebels looked like a stroke of genius. It humiliated the West which, thanks to the weak leadership of the Obama administration, has drawn ‘red lines’ on the Syrian issue but then failed to act on them when they were crossed.

“[The ingredients in place next week] will be an upper-level storm system that is potent, a strong cold front and a connection with tropical moisture,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek said.

That moisture will be associated with the system that formed along the Texas coast Saturday night.

As the moisture is fed northward, the result will be rain spreading northward from the Deep South to the Midwest and East during late in the week. The rain will move in a general southwest-to-northeast fashion through Wednesday.

Cities in line for the rain next week include St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. Eventually, the rain will also spread to Boston and Portland, Maine.

If enough cold air can be drawn into the backside of the storm, snow may also return to the Upper Midwest and northern Appalachians.

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Traces of airstrikes against household buildings have been found at the Syria-Jordan border, where Russian warplanes have performed no missions, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff Andrey Kartapolov said on Friday.

“We have spotted ruins of household buildings destroyed by bombing near the settlement of Kherbet Ghazala at the Syrian-Jordan border,” he told a briefing for foreign military attaches and journalists.

“Russian warplanes have never performed any missions there and, as far as we know, the Syrian aviation has not been used there either,” he stressed. “This territory has never been in the hands of the Islamic State. Moreover, this area has been controlled by the Free Syrian Army since 2013.”

He demonstrated photos of the area featuring bomb-destroyed buildings. “You can see on these photos that there are no signs of military activity around these cottages, there are no military hardware, not even signs of military hardware. These are regular gardens and fields with buildings to keep farming tools,” he said.

“Why destroy these buildings? It looks like somebody’s pilots were just training their skills or dropped bombs to report to their command about completed mission,” Kartapolov said.

Mr Fallon says Russia is prolonging the war by targeting all opponents of President Assad EPA

Russian airstrikes in Syria may have killed “several hundred” civilians already and raise the risk of accidental confrontation with Western forces, the Defence Secretary has said.

But Michael Fallon said Russia’s intervention should not “divert” Britain from combatting Isis and restated his intention to extend the RAF’s bombing campaign to Syria.

In a sharp condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Syria, Mr Fallon told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme that Russia was prolonging the war by targeting all opponents of President Assad.

“What [Russia] is doing is propping up the Assad regime, making the resolution of all this more difficult. They are prolonging the conflict and civilians are being killed,” he said.

“The RAF strikes are done to very strict rules of engagement. They’ve been striking in Iraq for a year where so far there have been no civilian casualties. The Russians have been at it in Syria for a couple of weeks and independent reports estimate that they’ve killed several hundred people already.”

U.S. official: Doctors Without Borders ‘did everything right’ before airstrike

Washington (CNN)The initial findings of an investigation into a U.S. airstrike against a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan have concluded that the U.S. government was aware the site was a hospital, two U.S. officials told CNN Friday. But that information did not get passed to the correct military personnel, they said.

The officials declined to be identified because the investigation remains ongoing, and both emphasized the initial information could still change as the investigation proceeds. But Doctors Without Borders (MSF), who ran the hospital, “did everything right in informing us,” one of the officials said. The location of the hospital “was in the military database” of restricted sites such as hospitals, mosques and schools that U.S. pilots are not allowed to strike even if insurgents are present.

Military investigators are reviewing all available audio tapes and other technical data that may have passed from a command center to the air crew, and also to a special operations forces unit on the ground that was talking to the plane.

Investigators are also looking at whether the crew may have voiced concern about engaging any target in that area of Kunduz since it did not appear to meet the criteria for U.S. airstrikes. Under the “rules of engagement” strikes are permitted to protect U.S. forces, to hit targets associated with al Qaeda or to prevent mass casualties among Afghan forces.

As US Bombs Iraq and Syria, Who Exactly Is Being Killed?

The rubble of a home reportedly hit by a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Kafar Daryan in Syria. (Photo: Sami Ali / AFP/Getty Images)

As the United States passes week seven of its expanded war on Iraq, and week two of air strikes across Syria, a critical question remains unanswered: Who exactly is dying in the air bombardments?

Many fear this question will remain unanswered. “I’m concerned that the U.S. is not held to the same standard as other countries when it comes to violating international law and killing civilians,” Raed Jarrar, Policy Impact Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams.

The U.S. military and government have provided virtually no information about civilian and combatant casualties and have denied on-the-ground reports that innocent people are being killed and wounded in the escalating attacks.

But this official version of events is contradicted by mounting reports from Syria. As recently as Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that overnight U.S. coalition bombings of alleged ISIS positions in northern and eastern Syria took civilian lives, the exact number unspecified. Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman told the Associated Press that a strike on a grain silo in the town of Manbij in Aleppo province “killed only civilians there, workers at the site. There was no ISIS inside.” He added that the bombings “destroyed the food that was stored there.”

The U.S. military on Monday denied the civilian deaths to Reuters but presented no evidence backing its claims. A U.S. Central Command statement released Monday offered no further information about civilian or combatant deaths, stating that air strikes were conducted against a “ISIL vehicles within a staging area adjacent to an ISIL-held grain storage facility near Manbij,” in addition to other targets.

The Observatory is not the only organization to sound the alarm on civilian deaths. Human Rights Watch released a report on Sunday that apparent U.S. missile strikes on Idlib in Syria on September 23 killed at least seven civilians. “Three local residents told Human Rights Watch that missiles killed at least two men, two women, and five children,” reads the report. Video footage from local residents and the Shaam News Network, available on the HRW website, appear to verify that civilians were wounded and killed in the strikes. According to some estimates, as many as 24 civilians were killed in coalition air strikes on this day.

Pentagon Spokesperson Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby denied those civilian deaths as well, again offering no evidence. “This is a pretty remote area of the country, mostly just desert. It’s not — it’s not urban,” he told the Associated Press. “We don’t believe that there’s much reason to be too concerned about any collateral damage, you know, to civilian property, that kind of thing.”

The Pentagon has also claimed that civilians are spared in its ongoing bombings of Iraq, which now number over 240 strikes since August eighth. But the U.S. has offered no evidence backing this claim, and the National Iraqi News Agency has reported that civilians have died in U.S. strikes on the country. Numerous voices from Iraq and across the world warn that the renewed U.S. war in the country is bringing further militarization and death to ordinary Iraqi people, who are squeezed between siege from ISIS and strikes from above.

According to Jarrar, the failure of the U.S. to account for the Iraqis killed in the 2003 war raises serious concerns about U.S. accountability and honesty over who it kills. “There is strong evidence that the U.S.-led attacks have killed dozens of civilians in Syria in the last few weeks and killed tens and thousands of civilians in Iraq over the last decade, and we haven’t seen any investigations into these crimes,” said Jarrar. “There is no reason to believe the U.S. will investigate itself.”

Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told Common Dreams, “There is a big danger here that U.S. air strikes in Syria are going to resemble the drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen in the sense that there is no accountability for who is killed. We have reports of civilian casualties from people in the area and the U.S. government says, ‘No, they are bad guys.’ There has to be some public accountability for what happens when there are allegations of civilian casualties.”

According to Jarrar, the U.S. hand in civilian deaths extends beyond direct bombings. “The indirect U.S. intervention is left unchecked as well: U.S. training and funding and equipping proxy groups in Iraq and Syria. There is very strong evidence that many of the U.S. allies that have been receiving us military assistance and training and equipments have been committing gross human rights violations and the U.S. has not been held accountable.”

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented death of 250124 persons since 18/03/2011, which witnessed the fall of the first martyr in Daraa, until 10/15/2015.The casualties are as follows:Civilians: 115627 including: 12517 children and 8062 female over the age of 18 YPG, the rebel and Islamist fighters: 41201 Defected soldiers and officers: 2551 Arab fighters from Gulf countries, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, North Africa, Palestine, Jordan, Sudan … Read more

On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry held an extraordinary briefing to discuss the international coverage of Russia’s military operation in Syria.

Russia’s anti-ISIL operation has prompted a smear campaign in the world media, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

Speaking during a briefing in Moscow, Zakharova noted that Western claims that Russia kills civilians in Syria and attacks the moderate opposition were based on unconfirmed data and unnamed sources.

She went on to say that Moscow was surprised at British official statements alleging that Russia is waging an asymmetric war in Syria and committing a mistake.

“If it is a mistake, show us the facts proving that,” she said. “This is how public opinion is shaped. The people who watch television believe these people and they believe it is a mistake,” she added.

JAKARTA—A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali early on Tuesday, but there was no tsunami warning and no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake’s epicentre was at a shallow depth of eight kilometers (five miles), the US Geological Survey said, putting it 278 kilometers south of Denpasar, on Bali. The quake hit at 2:23 am (1823 GMT Monday).

IU/YSS, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia

Volcanic Activity

Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, 130 kilometers west of Jakarta, was created by the same tectonic forces that led to the 1883 Krakatoa eruption that killed tens of thousands of people. (Reuters Photo)

Bandarlampung. Volcanic ash from the increasingly active Anak Krakatau has reached a number of areas in Lampung, prompting officials on Monday to issue a warning for local residents and tourists.

“The ash was carried by wind from the southeast to the south, reaching Bandarlampung,” Nurhuda, who heads the observation and information section of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Lampung, said according to state news agency Antara.

Nurhuda said the ash fell over several subdistricts in Bandarlampung, about 130 kilometers away from Anak Krakatau.

“It is rather unusual for the dust to be this thick,” said Juniardi, a resident of Bandarlampung who complained that the falling dust was also hampering visibility.

Officials warned that the ask posed health hazards and asked local residents to wear masks when going outdoors or driving motorcycles.

“We also advise fishermen and tourists not to come within a radius of 3 kilometers of Anak Krakatau. The thick plumes of smoke sent off by Krakatau contain toxic material that is hazardous for your health,” said Andi Suhardi, head of the Anak Krakatau observation post in Hargo Pancuran village.

A report from the volcanology office in Bandung shows that the activities of Anak Krakatau has been on the rise over the past few days, reaching almost 90 eruptions per day.

Nurhuda said the report showed the volcano spewed red hot lava up to 300 meters above its peak. “More than 100 volcanic quakes and tremors have been recorded,” he added.

Anak Krakatau, or child or Krakatau, about 130 kilometers west of Jakarta, was created by the same tectonic forces that led to the 1883 Krakatoa eruption that killed tens of thousands of people.

A new phase of activity has started at Krakatau volcano. A large explosion occurred early today and produced an ash plume that reached 14,000 ft (4.2 km) according to Darwin VAAC who first observed it at 01:32 GMT. Ash fall has reached Lampung and over several subdistricts in Bandarlampung, at about 130 kilometers distance. Authorities have issued a warning for local residents and tourists not to approach the volcano. “It is rather unusual for the dust to be this thick,” said Juniardi, a resident of Bandarlampung who complained that the falling dust was also hampering visibility, the Jakarta Globe writes. According to the news article, the activity of Anak Krakatau has been on the rise over the past few days, reaching almost 90 eruptions per day. Nurhuda said the report showed the volcano spewed red hot lava up to 300 meters above its peak. “More than 100 volcanic quakes and tremors have been recorded,” he added.

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Unusually fierce storms swept through Malta on Monday, killing one man and dropping more rain on the Mediterranean island in two hours than its normal monthly average for September. The first storm triggered floods that swept away a man who had abandoned his car. Police said the man managed to make it to higher ground. Another man working in a field was fatally struck by lightning, however, as a second storm battered Malta in the afternoon. The storms caused substantial damage across the small Mediterranean archipelago, which includes the main island and sister islands of Gozo and Comino, with cars overturned, trees uprooted, houses flooded and walls collapsed. Malta’s meteorological office said 42.4 millimeters (1.67 inches) of rain fell, eclipsing the 40-millimeter average for the month of September.

A fire in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora has spread to 700 acres since it began about 2:15 p.m. along East Fork Road, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The blaze was moving north toward the Sheep Mountain Wilderness Area, said John Wagner, an assistant public affairs officer with the forest service. An evacuation was underway at a mobile home park in the vicinity of the fire, Wagner said. He did not know how many residents had been evacuated. There were no reports of casualties or property damage. Wagner said seven air tankers from various agencies were battling the blaze. Fifteen engine companies from the Los Angeles County Fire Department were also fighting the fire, a spokesman said.

NEW ORLEANS — Tens of thousands of customers remained in the dark Monday in Louisiana and Mississippi, nearly a week after Isaac inundated the Gulf Coast with a deluge that still has some low-lying areas under water.

Most of those were in Louisiana, where utilities reported more than 100,000 people without power. Thousands also were without power in Mississippi and Arkansas.

President Barack Obama visited Monday, a day ahead of the Democratic National Convention, and walked around storm damage in St. John the Baptist Parish, where subdivisions were soaked in water from Isaac.

“I know it’s a mess,” Obama said as he approached a resident in the Ridgewood neighborhood. “But we’re here to help.”

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney visited the state Friday.

In St. John the Baptist Parish, residents spent Labor Day dragging waterlogged carpet and furniture to the curb and using bleach and water to clean hopefully to prevent mold.

LaPlace resident Barbara Melton swept mud and debris from her home, which was at one point under 2 feet of water. The garbage, debris and standing water – combined with heat reaching the 90s – created a terrible stench.

“It’s hot, it stinks, but I’m trying to get all this mud and stuff out of my house,” she said.

Melton was grateful for the president’s visit.

“I think it’s awesome to have a president that cares and wants to come out and see what he can do,” Melton, 60, said.

A few houses away, Ed Powell said Isaac was enough to make him question whether to stay.

“I know Louisiana’s a gambling state, but we don’t want to gamble in this method because when you lose this way, you lose a lot.”

Powell said even if Obama comes up with a plan or solution to the flooding problem in his area, time is not on the residents’ side.

“Even if they narrow down what the problem is and begin to resolve the problem, it usually takes years. And between now and whenever, a lot of things can happen,” Powell said.

More than 2,800 people were at shelters in Louisiana, down from around 4,000. State officials were uncertain how many people would eventually need longer-term temporary housing. Kevin Davis, head of the state’s emergency office, said housing would likely include hotels at first, then rental homes as close as possible to their damaged property.

Progress was evident in many places, though lingering flooding remained a problem in low-lying areas.

Crews in the town of Lafitte intentionally breached a levee Sunday night in an effort to help flooding there subside, Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told The Times-Picayune.

Much of Plaquemines Parish, a vulnerable finger of land that juts into the Gulf of Mexico, remained under as much as 5 feet of water, Parish President Billy Nungesser said. The Category 1 hurricane walloped the parish, and for many, the damage was worse than that from Katrina in 2005.

Mumbai received a whopping 15 cm average rainfall in 12 hours since 8 a.m. Monday, even as one person was killed and normal life disrupted, officials said. Five people were killed in rain-related incidents in other parts of Maharashtra. Five persons were killed and another four injured when the wall of a temple crashed at Kaundinyapur village in Amravati district. The incident occurred Sunday evening and the bodies of the victims were removed from the debris early Monday. The incessant rains resulted in overflowing of Thane district’s Lake Tansa, a major source of drinking water for the 17 million people of the city, civic official said. Some parts of the city received between four to eight centimetres of rains since Monday morning, raising hopes that the water deficit would be wiped out this year. Several low-lying areas in the city and suburbs were waterlogged, slowing down vehicular movement and causing massive traffic snarls on both the national highways and other major roads. In the evening, five people were injured in a house-collapse in Chunabhatti area of central Mumbai as torrential rains continued. Water logging was reported from parts of Borivli, Kandivli, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Bhandup, Sion, Byculla and some areas in Dadar, Worli, Goregaon and Kurla experienced flooding.

Suburban train services were disrupted on the Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour Line with average 20-30 minutes delays, hitting office workers and students. The evening peak hour witnessed chaos with a signal failure at Santacruz-CST on the Harbour Line route and trains virtually crawling to their destinations. People commuting from south Mumbai to their homes in the suburbs were stuck en route and reached their destinations only after long delays of one-two hours. Elsewhere in the state, most districts of the coastal Konkan, eastern districts of Vidarbha, northern parts of the state, Marathwada and western Maharasthra were lashed with heavy rains since morning, spelling cheers for the water-starved farming community. Torrential downpour in Thane’s major towns like Kalyan, Dombivli, Vasai, Virar, Palghar and Dahanu led to flooding on the roads with vehicular movements virtually crippled for hours. As a precautionary measure, some schools in the district were closed early to enable students reach their homes safely. Farmers in the parched districts of Marathwada smiled broadly as the region was lashed with rains after a gap of over three weeks and earnestly resumed their farming activities. The weather bureau has forecast similar heavy to very heavy rains over Mumbai and other parts of the state for the next two days.

Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

The Ohio Department of Health announced on Friday that the country’s first known swine flu death took place in their state. A 61-year-old Madison county women was infected with the H3N2v virus and died. She had had direct contact with swine at the Ross County fair and had “multiple other underlying medical conditions” according to the statement.

There are currently 102 cases of the H3N2v virus in Ohio. The age range of patients is between 6 months and 61 years. Most of the patients had only a mild illness, and there have been few hospitalizations in this outbreak.

David Daniels, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said, “swine flu is not uncommon, especially when temperatures have been high, as they have been this summer.” Dr. Tony Forshey, state veterinarian at the Ohio Department of Agriculture said “there are veterinarians in the barn at every fair. Heat-stressed swine are more likely to become ill and contagious.”

This type of flu is only transmissible through contact with live pigs. You cannot get the flu through properly handled and cooked pork. This virus is different from seasonal influenza, but it is transmitted in the same way: through coughing and sneezing by people who are infected. Most of the patients this year have been children.

To protect yourself, wash your hands with soap and water, especially after you’ve been around animals at the fair. Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth. Do not drink or eat near animals, and do not bring food into the barns when you visit a fair. And limit time around animals. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems should avoid exposure to pigs and swine barns.

If you develop a flu-like illness, with symptoms including fever, tiredness, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, see your healthcare provider. And make sure to tell her that you have been in contact with swine or other people who are sick. For questions or help, call the Ohio Department of Agirculture’s Division of Animal Health at 614-728-6220.

The next strong flare could be just around the corner. Sunspot AR1564 is growing rapidly and has developed a ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class flares. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory took this picture of the active region during the early hours of Sept. 4th:

NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-flares during the next 24 hours. Any eruptions will likely be Earth-directed as the active region is turning toward our planet.

Space

A geomagnetic storm that began on Sept. 3rd when a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field is fitfully subsiding. The impact at 1200 UT (5 am PDT) induced significant ground currents in the soil of northern Scandinavia and sparked bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Ole C. Salomonsen photographed the display over Naimakka, Finland, on Sept. 4th:

“There I was standing all alone deep in the Finish forest, just in awe of this display of light above my head,” says Salomonsen. “This is just one of many images of spectacular auroras I shot on this wonderful night.”

Biological Hazards / Wildlife

Forty-six students of Government Polytechnic College for Women at Sidhapudur in the heart of Coimbatore city became ill on Monday following suspected food poisoning. They were admitted at two hospitals in the vicinity after they complained of severe vomiting and stomach pain. The students developed discomfort after having dinner at the college hostel cafeteria on Sunday. While 11 of them were admitted at Ramakrishna hospital on Sunday night itself, 35 students were rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) at around 8 am on Monday. Seven of them are being kept in the Intensive Care unit at CMCH and Ramakrishna hospital. The doctors attending to the students said that most of them were admitted with complaints of vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. They were put on drips and medication. P Sivaprakasam, resident medical officer of CMCH said initial examinations had revealed that the students were suffering from food poisoning. He also said that they had consumed contaminated water. “They are recovering well and will be discharged in a couple of days,” he added.

A Kalpana, a third year student recovering at CMCH said that on Sunday night they were served tomato rice for dinner. For the past week the drinking water supply was not proper. Some students may have consumed contaminated water or it may have been used for cooking,” said another student on conditions of anonymity. “Just a few months ago the students had oragnised a public protest demanding good quality food. The case of food poisoning highlights the grim situation prevailing at the hostel,” she added. The doctors say that students fell ill because of consuming contaminated water. What has happened is unfortunate. We will look into the issue and ensure this does not happen again. Corrective measures will be put in place,” said B Padmini, principal of the college. There are 300 students residing at the hostel. Most hostel students are sports players, she said. “Students may have consumed pipe water instead of the boiled water made available to them. This is despite several reminders to drink only boiled water,” the principal added. Regarding the allegation of inadequate drinking water supply in the past one week, Padmini said that on certain days there was a disruption in supply.

Russia’s military officials say that efforts to prevent an anthrax epidemic have been increased at a Russian air base in Kyrgyzstan because of an outbreak of anthrax nearby. Officials from Russia’s Central Military District say one of the outbreaks is within 20 kilometers of the Kant Air Base in Kyrgyzstan’s northern region of Chui. He says all military buildings on the base — including apartments for officers and their families — have been disinfected and safety checks on food supplies have been increased. The move was undertaken after Kyrgyz health officials announced last week that several cases of anthrax had been confirmed in Chui and in the southern regions of Jalal-abad and Batken.

A wildlife rescue organization says 13 whales have died following a mass stranding off the Scottish coast. British Divers and Marine Life Rescue said Sunday that the mammals were among a group of 26 pilot whales stranded at Pittenweem, in eastern Scotland. Coast guards, volunteer medics, fire crews and police are all also involved in efforts to rescue the 13 still living. But rescue coordinator Gareth Norman said that it was likely more of the whales would die. A further 24 pilot whales from the same pod are currently in shallow water three miles along the coast at Cellardyke.

Seventeen of the 22 mammals died in the surf at Avalon Beach State Park in St. Lucie County and five juveniles were taken to a rescue facility at nearby Florida Atlantic University, but were not expected to survive.

Blair Mase, who specializes in the study of whale stranding for the U.S. government, told TCPalm.com the tragedy was probably linked to the pod leader.

“This species has a tight social structure,” said Mase, a regional coordinator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. “Typically, they stay together as a group. So if one animal is sick, they all come ashore.”

Hundreds of people on the area either watched the stranding unfold. Many tried to help out by throwing wet towels on the whales to protect them from the sun, TCPalm.com said.

Mase it would not have done much good to push the whales off the sand. “If you push them into the water, they’ll just keep coming back and stranding themselves again,” she said.

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